


Sunburns and Spring Breaks

by Homer



Series: Supergirl - College AU Prompts [4]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: (Kara/Lena), Alternate Universe - College/University, Brotp Maggie & Lena, College AU, F/F, Gen, I guess you could also call this the following:, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fic, Spring Break, Sunburns, Unrequited, almost but not quite sexual tension, and they were Roommates™
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 01:30:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17437322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Homer/pseuds/Homer
Summary: Prompt:Person A: “I’m noT HELPLESS, I’M SUNBURNED.”Person B: *stops rubbing aloe vera on their burns* “Then I guess you can do this yourself.”Person A: “No- No, wait- I’m helpless and lazy as fuck, help me”Kara, Lena, Alex, and Maggie go to Mexico for their spring break. The sun is high, the ocean is beautiful - too bad Lena is terribly susceptible to sunburns...





	Sunburns and Spring Breaks

**Author's Note:**

> Considering it's going to be a wonderful 7°f for me in the next few days, here's a fic about being on a warm, sunny beach in Mexico.
> 
> Five points to whoever knows my movie reference! (If you don't know it, shame on you. Go watch it. Right now. [or whenever you're done reading, haha])
> 
> As always, find me on Tumblr @uhb-sessed!  
> Feel free to suggest prompts or ideas for fics! Or just yell at me, hahaha

                Lena doesn’t know why she agreed to go to _Mexico_ for spring break. Well, she _does_ , but blatantly refuses to admit to herself _why_.

                “Lena!”

                Ah, there’s “why” now.

                “Come on, start packing some stuff! I’ll grab the food, you get the water stuff!”

                Lena huffs. “ _Only_ the water stuff? Or did you mean like _literally everything else_ besides the food.”

                Kara twirls around from her position near the sink, having reached high for some paper plates in a cabinet. “Uhh…” a sheepish smile.

                “That’s what I thought.” Lena rolled her eyes and smiled, having turned and now walks to do the ray of sunshine's bidding.

 

                “Kara, you know you can’t just leave your roommate to do everything for you, y’know.”

                “I know, Alex.”

                “Do you?” Alex starts, jumping to sit on a counter. “’Cause I remember you as a roommate. Terrible.”

                “I was not-“

                “Look, Little Danvers,” Maggie interrupts. “I’ve seen your attempt at living solo before. Remember that apartment you thought you could afford from that summer internship you took?”

                “That’s different…”

                “How?”

                “I don’t know! Just living with someone else makes it different.”

                “Someone else in general…? Or _someone_ else.”

                “Maggie!”

                Maggie laughs, leaning back into Alex from where she stands between her girlfriend’s legs.

                “Fine, fine Little D, I’ll go help get some of the beach stuff ready. Lena! Where’d you go?!”

/

                The four of them are out at a nice little beach Lena “found online.” It was on the quiet end, which Lena enjoyed. They were within walking distance of a more commercialized beach – if they wanted to go there instead – but for now they were satisfied with only the sounds of waves bombarding their ears instead of groups of students each trying to play their music louder than others.

                Alex and Maggie stood out a ways in the water, the shore having a slow, gradual slope. Kara lay on a beach towel on her back in the sun, sunglasses on as best they could be. Lena sat in a reclining chair underneath a beach umbrella Maggie found in the garage of the house they were renting.

                Lena flipped to the next page of her book and finished the paragraph before looking up to check on the status of her friends.

                Alex and Maggie were having a splash fight – she could hear the fringes of their laughter from here, and Kara was still – wait. Where’d she go?

                Lena’s head slowly turned on a swivel, scanning each and every face, body, and voice through her mind.

                Kara wasn’t there.

                “Kara?” She was getting worried. “Kara?!”

                No answer.

                She swung her legs off the rubbery plastic of the chair and made a move to stand. As soon as she stood, Kara was facing her just ten paces from the edge of the umbrella – two drinks in hand.

                Lena’s hand came to her chest, resting above her heart. “Kara, thank god – you scared me! You just disappeared! Where did you go?!”

                Kara steps closer as she speaks. “I’m sorry, Lena. I thought I told you I was going to get us some drinks? Maybe I should’ve said it a second time – I know how you really get into reading…”

                “No, Kara, it’s okay. I should’ve been more aware.”

               

                They now stood but two awkward feet apart from each other.

 

                “Oh! Uh, here!” Kara says, before gesturing towards Lena with a hand. “This one’s for you! I know you really like pomegranate, and from my limited Spanish I think that’s what this is?? If you don’t like it you can have mine. I may or may not have tried yours already…”

                Lena laughs and takes a sip.

                “Delicious.”

/

                “What were you reading, anyway?”

                “Oh, a general basic overview on quantum physics.”

                “Oh. That sounds fun.”

                “It’s riveting, actually.”

                Kara now sat next to Lena on the other beach chair, leisurely sipping her drink.

                “Hey! Why didn’t you bring us anything?” Maggie calls out, teasingly.

                “Not like you asked,” Kara replies.

                “Ouch.”

                “You didn’t ask me, Kara. Yet here I am – with a drink.” Lena sends a wink towards Maggie before facing Kara.

                “Oh- I, well, I didn’t want you getting dehydrated.”

                Alex barks out a laugh. “Kara you got her an alcoholic drink.”

                Kara splutters some more, as Maggie and Lena start laughing too.

                “Whatever,” Kara mutters.

/

                They stayed at the beach till after sundown, having watched the sun set on the ocean.

 

                Alex and Maggie are sharing a couch, halfway laying on one another, while Kara and Lena share the other.

                “Kara, how is this in your top ten movies.”

                “Because it _is_. There shouldn’t be any argument here. It’s a _classic_.”

                “It _is_ a classic, Maggie.” Alex affirms.

                “Though I haven’t seen this movie before, did you know that this was Anne Hathaway’s first movie?” Lena says.

                “Really? See, Maggie? It’s a hit for all the right reasons.”

                “Anne Hathaway?”

                “Yes!”

                “You’re gay for Hathaway?”

                “Ye- no! Maggie!”

                Maggie laughs.

                “Wait wait wait wait wait! This is the best song in the entire film – listen to the lyrics!”

                Lena listens attentively. Maggie scoffs and laughs.

                “ _’I’m Supergirl and I’m here to save the world?’_ Hahaha, Kara you’re killing me!”

                Lena keeps listening. The song ends right after the chorus. She makes a note to look up the lyrics later.

/

                The house they’ve rented only has two bedrooms – one being a master. Alex and Maggie take the master bedroom, while Kara and Lena decided that they’d share the queen bed. Originally, Kara argued that she should take the couch bed – but Lena argued that that would be ridiculous. If they can share a dorm room and all that that entails, they can absolutely share a bed for a week.

                Kara slept in exercise shorts and a sports bra – claiming it was too hot to wear more. Lena slept in an oversized t-shirt and shorts.

                Waking the following morning gave Lena a revelation.

                She was sunburned.

                Badly.

                And it fucking _hurt._

                She could feel it mostly on her back – though her shoulders and neck were burning too. Her shirt stuck to her skin, and she groaned as quietly as she could while peeling the cotton back.

                Kara was still asleep and would be for the next hour at least – according to the clock it was almost eight in the morning.

                Lena slipped out of the bed quietly, grabbed what would hopefully be a comfortable shirt to wear over her burns, other clothes and toiletries, and headed to the shower.

                Turning on the water, Lena set the temperature to a cool setting. Undressing herself led to a lot of mumbled “oh fuck”s and “ow, shit”s. Her burns looked terrible in the mirror. She didn’t even look at her back, and that’s what hurt most.

                _Oh, god_. The cool water felt great on Lena’s back. She could stay in there all day. She was in there for what felt like five minutes before someone was pounding on the door.

                “Lena? Are you okay in there?” _Kara._

                “Yeah- Yes, I am. I’ll be done in a few minutes.”

                Grabbing her towel, she dried herself off as best she could before stepping out of the tub. She had to be careful on her burns, pushing or rubbing too hard on them caused even more pain.

                She flipped the lid of the toilet down so she could sit, before digging in her bag for her aloe she’d remember to pack.

                She popped the cap and squeezed some of the gel into her hand, then started rubbing it on the places she could reach.

                And it felt oh so very good.

                She accidentally let out what sounded, to her at least, an almost pornographic moan. _Whoops_. More and more layers of the gel were added to the burns, the temporary relief so easily being given into.

                She still needed to do her back. She grabbed the bottle and squeezed more gel into her hands, twisting and trying to reach as much of her back as she could.

                _Oh, oh,_ ow _bad idea_.

                Twisting her body gave more pull onto the rest of her burns, stretching them. Lena swore she could hear her skin cracking.

                She sat there for a few minutes, damp towel around her waist, before there was another knock on the door.

                “Lena?”

                “Kara?”

                “Are you _sure_ you’re okay?”

                Lena stood and raised her towel back above her breasts before answering.

                “I need help.”

/

                _I need help._

                At that, Kara’s heartbeat jumped. _Was she hurt? Was she crying? What’s gone wrong? What’s-_

                She opened the door softly. Her eyes lifted to meet Lena’s, who met her gaze for a moment before flicking to the mirror.

                Kara's eyes drifted downwards.

                Lena was sunburned. Badly. _Very_ badly.

                “Oh, Lena…”

                Kara took a few steps into the room, having shut the door for privacy. “I knew you said you burned easily, but not _this_ easily…”

                “SPF 100 only does so much, I’m afraid. The same goes for beach umbrellas.”

                Kara’s hands reached out and gently touched Lena’s exposed shoulders.

                Lena let out a hiss of pain.

                “Ohmygod, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

                “’s okay, Kara. I just… I can’t reach my back…”

                _Oh._

                “…can you do it for me? Please?” Lena was almost pleading.

                “Yeah, yeah sure.” Kara’s face heated up. “You’ll, uh, need to move your towel…”

                Lena’s face matched Kara’s.

                “Oh, right. You’re right.”

/

                It was a few hours later that Lena stepped out of another cool shower, Alex’s medical advice being that taking one every so often would help keep the pain and swelling at bay. Kara had been helping her put on the aloe after each one.

                But now it was dinnertime, and it was the sisters’ night to cook. So that meant that either: 1) Lena had to put it on herself the best she could, or 2) Maggie was going to do it.

                A few minutes after Lena left the shower, she heard a knock on the door.

                “Yes?”

                “Hey, it’s Maggie. Kara asked me to ask you if you wanted me to help you with your sunburn…?”

                She had an out, if she wanted it. She could say no if having Maggie help her would be uncomfortable. Thing was – she honestly didn’t care who did it. She felt (and looked) like a boiling lobster.

                “That’d be great, give me a second.”

               

                Kara and Lena had quickly developed a system. Lena would shower, dry off, and aloe herself up as much as she could before having Kara help her. She’d go into their bedroom, lay face down on the bed, and Kara would rub the gel on her back.

                Lena fixed the towel around herself, before opening the door.

                “Ready?”

                Maggie shrugs, gesturing for Lena to lead the way.

                “Don’t get frisky with my girlfriend, Luthor!” Alex yells down the hallway.

                Maggie and Lena both chuckle when they hear Kara berate her sister.

 

                Maggie gives her a minute to get situated on the bed before entering the bedroom.

                Never before has Lena appreciated the odd coolness of homemade beach-themed quilts before.

                She hears a badly muffled choke of laughter from the doorway as Maggie enters the room.

                “You look like a fucking cartoon prisoner. You back is _striped_ , Little Luthor. How did you even get that? The beach chair?”

                “I don’t know, probably?”

                “That’s hilarious. Oh my god.” She starts rubbing the gel along the backs of her shoulders.

                “Shut up or I’ll do this myself, I’m not helpless.”

                Maggie’s hands stop.

                “Do it yourself then.” Maggie’s hands leave her back. As she takes a few steps towards the door, she stops in her tracks.

                “Wait! No, please – help me. This burn hurts so bad just – _help me_.”

                The other woman grins.

                “I thought you’d never ask.”

/

                The next few days come with much teasing for Lena – mostly from Maggie, of course. Kara tries her hardest to not touch or cuddle Lena too much – burns having formed blisters, noting the actual severity of the burn. Alex ‘monitors’ her, even making it out to a local drugstore and buying her a tube or two of hydrocortisone to help with the healing process.

                Lena never thought that pain would bring her closer to people – but it turns out that a sunburn does just that.

**Author's Note:**

> No beta for the win, lmao. (Honestly proofreading feels like it takes half the time it does to write, smh)  
> I also recommend watching the music video for the song referenced: Krystal Harris - _Super Girl_ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E0sawMArmI)
> 
> Thanks for reading!! <3
> 
>  
> 
> _PS: The book I reference Lena reading exists! I highly recommend reading it. It's called "Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity" by Carlo Rovelli_


End file.
